Like Panchayati Raj at rural areas, local bodies exist for urban areas as well. The structure is like :
(i) Municipal Corporations. Big cities have municipal corporations. It is the top most urban local government.
=> The corporation comprises members called councillors. These councillors are elected on adult franchise.
=> The political head of the municipal corporation is known as Mayor.
Its main functions are :
=> Supply of wholesome water
=> Supply of electricity
=> Road transport services,
=> Establishment of hospitals maternity and Child welfare centres etc.
=> It has also the discretionary functions like
• Construction of public parks
• Gardens
• Libraries
• Public housing
• Registration of marriages
• Surveys of buildings and lands etc.
(ii) Municipalities. Municipalities are set up in towns. They are controlled by elected bodies consisting of people’s representatives. Municipal Chairperson is the political head of the municipality.
=> Thefunctionsofamunicipalityandof a municipal corporation are more or less identical.
The urban local bodies get various type of grants from the state and central governments.